Garden Tomato Soup with Creamy Goat Cheese

Name: Garden Tomato Soup with Creamy Goat Cheese
Yield: makes about 2 quarts / serves 6 to 8
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter; 2 onions, chopped; 2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped; 8 garden-ripe tomatoes (about 4 pounds), peeled; 2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more to taste; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste; 6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth; 2 bay leaves; 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes; 1 cup fresh basil leaves, plus shredded basil for garnish (optional); 1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled soft goat cheese, plus more for garnish (optional); Crusty baguette, sliced and toasted, for serving (optional)

December 14, 2011

No matter how many tomato sandwiches, salads, or platters of thick, salted slices we eat, come August we can never seem to keep up with the overabundance of tender-ripe Beefsteaks, Early Girls, Cherokee Purples, and Arkansas Travelers taking up semi-permanent residence on the kitchen counter. Everyone develops a strategy for the happy problem of too many tomatoes: in some people it inspires bouts of generous and indiscriminate gift giving; in others, a frenzy of canning and freezing. This light and satisfying take on cream of tomato soup is my favorite solution.

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